Two days off to explore Togo and we get the bright idea to
visit the neighbouring country to the east, Benin. No problem getting a visa
from the Benin Consulate after our Friday distribution; “it will only take 30 minutes”.
Wrong!
We got sucked into the bureaucratic process, our passports
where being processed inside the consulate, we were outside on the street
“cooling our heels” in another feels like 44C afternoon and there was only one
more step until the next one, and the next one and...
The highlight (on reflection it should have been an omen) was
a photographer showing up on his motorcycle, setting up an ad hoc photo studio
on the side of the street and proceeding to take our visa pictures all with a
white towel backdrop being held by the consulate attendant, after he donated
his chair from the guard’s kiosk for the official photography.
Four hours later, we were finally back in our residence with
the valuable Benin visas inserted into our passports and ready to start our
weekend adventure.
The next morning after a 3.5 hour trip that included another
1.5 hours getting through the border in what seemed like countless forms and
stamps we arrived at our destination.
Ouidah, Benin has a Historical Museum located in a former
Portuguese fort that for four centuries was the site of the slave trade in this
region of West Africa. The overwhelming message in this museum was of the
millions of Africans that passed through this fort, made the 4 kilometer walk
to the beach to the ‘Laporte du Nonretour’ and onto the boats bound for the
Americas.
Our team was appreciative of experiencing this important
UNESCO site and that it was worth every minute, even every hour getting to
Benin.
